This invention relates to an apparatus for inserting documents into envelopes, comprising a document feed path, an envelope feed path, an envelope holder with at least one envelope support, operatively connecting to the document feed path and the envelope feed path, for holding an individual envelope in a filling position at least partly in or against a particular first surface, and for subsequently guiding that envelope towards arid thereafter into a second surface offset or tilted with respect to the first surface, means for introducing at least one document into an envelope being held in the filling position, and an envelope discharge path operatively connecting to the envelope holder.
This invention also relates to a method for inserting documents into envelopes, with a cycle comprising; feeding at least one document along a document feed path to an envelope positioned in a filling position in or against a first surface, thereafter introducing that document or those documents into that envelope, subsequently discharging the filled envelope from the filling position via a feed-through path into or against a second surface offset or turned relative to the first surface and an envelope discharge path, and bringing a next envelope to be filled into the filling position.
Such an apparatus and such a method are known from British patent application 2,268,148. The envelope holder of this known apparatus is equipped with an envelope carrier which is pivotable about a shaft between three positions in which it aligns with different transport paths on its side remote from the shaft. In a first position the envelope holder connects to an envelope feed path via which path an envelope can be introduced into the envelope holder. In a second position the envelope holder connects to a document feed path, via which path a document can be inserted into an envelope in the envelope holder. In a third position the envelope holder connects to a discharge path, via which path the filled envelope can be discharged.
International patent application WO 95/13197 discloses an apparatus and a method for inserting items into envelopes, in which an envelope is carried into a filling position in a direction transverse to the walls of that envelope. As a result, carrying an envelope into the filling position can be carried out relatively quickly.
Drawbacks of these known apparatuses and methods for inserting items into envelopes are that in operation much space in the material stream, and hence time, must be reserved for bringing an envelope to be filled into a filling position. This has an adverse effect on thc number of envelopes that can be filled per unit time, even if the envelopes are placed in the reserved space very quickly.